!! unedited
there are gonna be mistakes, linda
The doors to the Pokécenter slid open, widening with a quiet click. The man - at first glance - seemed inconspicuous, perhaps a little overdressed, but he didn't look like someone who you'd do your utmost to steer clear of.
(Perhaps that'd been a bit of an unwise decision to make.)
On entry, he removed a pair of spectacles that may have faintly resembled sunglasses from the bridge of his nose, pocketing them and readjusting the greyish trench coat that fell about his knees. Nobody happened to look his way, no-one cast any suspicious glances - why would you have done? The man wasn't dubious in the slightest, he appeared to most as nothing more than a passerby - maybe some form of inspector at a stretch - and the disguise had worked seamlessly.
From under the brim of his hat, you might've caught him smile.
At such a late hour, the place was almost empty, spare the few who'd been asked to give their Pokémon a little more time to recover, and were likely staying overnight - most were asleep or on their way in that direction, probably too drowsy to even acknowledge the figure who slowly, languidly approached the desk.
He cleared his throat, and the nurse behind the counter turned.
Her features were shrouded in the faint, white-ish hue that the moonlight carried, streaming through the circular windows of the building in which they both stood: brown, wispy locks of hair cascaded over the shoulder, tapering out just above the waistband of her uniform (a blue dress shirt, the sleeves of which ballooned out around the elbows and gave way to a pair of white, silken gloves, a white apron tied around the back of the neck and fashioned in a bow over the hips succeeded by a matching flare skirt, its hem just about grazing her knees). Freckles peppered pale skin, disappearing under a neatly cut fringe just above the eyebrows - warm, doe-brown eyes blinked below a curtain of dark eyelashes, and her lips twisted upwards into something of a flagitious smile.
"I believe you have something for me, Detective."
The man, doing a wonderful job of maintaining his poker face, raised an eyebrow, saying nothing.
"Or perhaps," simpered the nurse, "I am indebted to you?"
Ribbons of moonlight splashed across the floor, casting a long, dark shadow across the desk where the man stood.
The nurse laughed - childish, sickly-sounding, counterfeit.
It was utterly, undeniably false, almost mocking - you didn't need to be a detective to be able to tell.
"Oh, liven up, won't you?" She chuckled, tossing a Pokéball between gloved, dainty fingers. "You are making this so boring."
"I came here to deliver the contraband, Nurse, not to play any of your mind games."
Leaning a little further over the lip of the counter, she let loose another fit of giggles. "Hand it over, then. I have a night shift to attend to."
"You know it isn't that easy." Mused the man.
"Why not?" She challenged, setting down the Pokéball, resting her chin on the base of her palm. "If you aren't going to be any fun, then leave."
"Nurse," the inspector pinched the bridge of his nose - it was beginning to grow a little difficult to conduct himself with patience. "You are aware of the circumstances, are you not?"
"Oh, of course!" She clasped both hands together in a pantomime of mock joy. "All these Pokémon disappearing, left right and centre... It's tragic, isn't it?"
(Really, the melodrama was not all that necessary.)
"Tragic," echoed the man, wiping his glasses on the hem of his sleeve.
"But it's exciting, no? It livens up the job a little - people come rushing in, close to tears, Detective, coming to me with all sorts of stories - "My Pokémon's been abducted!" They say, spouting all kinds of rubbish - sometimes, I can't help but laugh."
She grinned.
"We all need a little bit of danger to keep us on our toes, don't we?"
The Detective gave a slight nod, pocketing his glasses once more. Nurse lowered her voice.
"And I'll tell you, Mister, I've built quite the team, you know - it's amazing, don't you think? All these Pokémon, such immense potential... Wasted! Thrown away on some trainer who doesn't know how to train. And you of all people, Detective," she smiled, but it was sickly. "Would know how much I've changed that."
"You have, Miss." he said, after a pause, a slight smile tugging at the corners of his mouth.
"And to think they'd never have reached the level of excellence that they have achieved now! It's sad, isn't it? People these days are so, so lazy..."
She drew her finger round in circles on the cold, hard surface of the desk.
"I'll ask you again - do you have what I need, Detective?"
Without a word, the man drew a Pokéball from an inner pocket of his trench coat. Carefully, he set it down on the tabletop, holding the Nurse's gaze.
She held it level with her eye, lips curled upwards into an alluring sort of grin.
"Perfect." Pocketing it, The Nurse locked eyes with The Inspector, and she stretched out a hand, open for him to shake.
"And so it begins."
